SBFCV 01

Chapter 1

“Aria, my angel.”

The Emperor spoke desperately.

“Hurry and save me.”

Save him?

The so-called son of God was begging a monster for salvation.

It was laughable.

If only she still had enough life left in her to laugh.

Aria stared expressionlessly at the arm reaching toward her from beyond the cage.

“Hurry and sing!”

“Aria! If you don’t sing this instant, I’ll make sure you never walk again!”

The Emperor snarled like a beast.

He raged, cried, laughed, threatened, pleaded—eventually dropping to his knees to beg.

He was completely insane.

“Please sing for us, Lady Siren. Have mercy on us.”

“Please, Lady Siren…”

Even the dancers were sprawled beneath Aria’s cage, rubbing their palms together, pleading.

Just months ago, these were the same people who mocked her, fluttering their lashes and laughing prettily.

The musicians who once played to her song, the conductor, even the knights guarding the Emperor.

All of them waited breathlessly for her lips to open.

“…Kh-cough!”

At that moment, Aria suddenly coughed up blood.

She kept coughing until her dress soaked red.

Her hand clutched her heart.

Ah.

‘I can finally die soon.’

A smile of joy crossed Aria’s lips.

‘At last.’

Eternal rest was coming.

Her tightly sealed lips finally parted.

“Come, sweet death.”

Her voice, worn ragged from years of abuse, tore through the air.

As Aria began to sing in a whisper, silence fell like a shroud.

No one even remembered to breathe.

No one dared look away from her.

“Come and lead me into peace.”

The gentle beginning wrapped around them like warm sunlight.

As if they were being embraced by the very angel they had prayed for—softly comforting, tenderly stroking their souls.

“Ah… God…”

Someone smiled serenely as tears fell.

The melody seeped into their ears and burrowed deep into their bodies, brushing against their very hearts.

“For I am weary of this world.”

It was a hymn that gazed upon Heaven through the doorway of death.

A song of faith.

But through Aria’s dark, sticky voice, it transformed into something else entirely.

Into a seductive whisper that summoned demons.

“Come, blessed rest!”

The sweet comfort they longed for turned violent, seizing their hearts in a crushing grip.

Everyone hearing her song gasped, clutching at their chests.

Her voice became a sweet poison, devouring their hearts with greedy hunger.

“Come!”

Her hoarse voice seized their ankles and dragged them into a swamp.

A swamp of darkness—

A swamp of death—

A swamp of hell.

With each ragged breath Aria took, the sound grew harsher, spreading like wildfire.

“I have been waiting for you!”

It was no longer a song but a scream.

A plea to the God who had abandoned her to finally end her.

A curse.

A surrender.

A desperate grasping again…

And at last, the release of everything collapsing.

“Come now and close my eyes.”

If no god existed, then at least let a demon carry her away.

“Ugh—gaah!”

The Emperor fell to his knees, gasping desperately for air.

His heart felt crushed in a vice.

His veins throbbed violently; heat swelled behind his eyes as if someone were strangling him.

“Come, blessed rest!”

At last, the song ended.

The ritual to summon a demon was complete.

“Huff—huff…”

The Emperor gulped air like a man dragged from deep underwater.

His limbs trembled.

Cold sweat drenched him completely.

‘Wh-what… what is this…’

When he looked around, most people had fainted.

Some knights, eyes glazed with madness, were drawing their swords to cut their own throats.

A chill stabbed the Emperor’s spine.

Had he been holding a sword, he too would have ended his life in sheer agony.

“Th-this…”

The terror from witnessing overwhelming power—

“That wretch…!”

Realization quickly turned terror into rage.

“You dare attempt to kill me?!”

Even if she was the last Siren in existence, his patience had limits.

“I saved you when you were to be burned alive, and this is how you repay me?!”

He muttered darkly.

A Siren only needed to sing. That was her worth.

“Today, I will finally break your will. You will obey me.”

He snatched a knight’s sword and strode forward without hesitation.

A dark shadow fell over her.

A bird that had lived its whole life locked in a cage was gaining freedom only in death.

Aria slowly closed her eyes.

‘Sweet death, blessed rest…’

Just then—

The Emperor’s bedroom door opened smoothly without resistance.

“How desperately you call.”

Aria slowly lifted her head.

Her gaze locked with ash-gray eyes—

Empty and hollow.

Duke Valentine…

A man said to have sold his soul to a demon.

A man who should not have been here.

Yet he entered—carrying death with him.

With each step, crimson footprints stained the white marble floor.

He really came.

Aria couldn’t believe it.

The Duke flicked his blood-soaked sword lightly.

Blood arced gracefully in the air, drawing a crescent on the floor.

“If you are expecting salvation from a demon…”

Beyond the open door, the palace lay drenched in blood—silent as a tomb.

As if it had always been that way.

“…then I should answer, shouldn’t I?”

The demon killed the Emperor.

“Blessed rest has finally come,” he said indifferently.

He reached into the Emperor’s robes, retrieved a key, and walked toward Aria.

He fit the key into the iron cage.

Creak—

The cage slowly opened.

Standing before the chandelier, the demon shone with tens of thousands of colors.

As the light poured over his face, eyes that had seemed like dead ashes glowed like moonlight.

A light that illuminates even the deepest darkness.

For the first time, Aria realized how beautiful human eyes could be.

“The cage is open. Fly wherever you wish.”

A memory she would never forget—

A moment of salvation.

Aria stared blankly at her freed ankles.

Then she lifted her head.

Duke Valentine…

The traitor who killed the Emperor.

But also her savior.

The cage door was wide open.

If only she had wings, she could fly away.

But—

“I can’t fly anywhere.”

Aria gave a bitter smile and cried.

Because she would soon die.

Just kill me, she wanted to say.

She opened her mouth for her final request—

—but pain ripped through her throat like a blade.

Her vision whitened as if all her blood surged at once.

“You were a bird with broken wings already.”

The Duke’s languid gaze briefly touched her twisted legs before looking away.

“They say anyone who hears a Siren’s song goes mad.”

Aria collapsed slowly.

Her consciousness dimmed; her trembling body stiffened.

The Duke caught her dying body in his arms and said:

“Then I suppose it won’t matter. I was mad from the beginning.”

“If madness has a limit, show it to me.”

If she wished to say something, she could whisper it in his ear.

The demon smirked and turned to leave.

Aria closed her eyes in the demon’s arms.